It is well known to provide fluid dispensers for use in restaurants, factories, hospitals, bathrooms and the home. These dispensers may contain fluids such as soap, anti-bacterial cleansers, disinfectants, lotions and the like. It is also known to provide dispensers with some type of pump actuation mechanism wherein the user pushes or pulls a lever to dispense a quantity of fluid into the user's hands. “Hands-free” dispensers may also be utilized wherein the user simply places their hand underneath a sensor maintained by a dispenser housing and a quantity of fluid is dispensed by a motorized pump. Related types of dispensers may be used to dispense powder, aerosol materials or paper products.
Dispensers may directly hold a quantity of fluid, but these have been found to be messy and difficult to service. As such, it is known to use refill bags or containers that hold a quantity of fluid and provide a pump and nozzle mechanism. These refill bags are advantageous in that they are easily installed without a mess. And the dispenser can monitor usage to indicate when the refill bag is low and provide other dispenser status information.
Refill containers with identifiers such as electronic or mechanical keys have been developed so as to prevent unauthorized persons from substituting inferior product into a dispensing system. Specifically, various types of mechanical or electronic keys may be used so as to associate a refill container and the fluid contained therein with a specific dispenser. Electronic keys may include, but are not limited to, magnetic sensors, optical sensors, radio frequency identification devices, and the like. In these types of dispensers, it is critical that the identifier be properly positioned or associated on the refill container and that the refill container be properly received in the dispenser housing. If an identification key is not properly positioned, then the refill container is not read by the dispensing system and is rendered inoperative. However, it is possible for the refill container to be operatively detected by the dispensing system but still installed in such a way that the pump and nozzle mechanism jams. An improperly installed refill container that stalls or jams may cause damage to the pump actuator maintained by the refill container and/or a motor assembly and associated linkage that moves the pump actuator. An improperly installed refill container or stalled pump actuator may also result in excess fluid being dispensed.
A pump actuator maintained by the dispenser housing or the pump and nozzle mechanism maintained by the refill container may jam or stall for any number of reasons. For example, the pump may be clogged by the fluid material from previous dispense cycles. Debris or other impediments may be blocking movement of the pump actuator or, as noted, the refill container may not be properly installed into a dispensing housing. For example, the pump can be installed underneath the actuator preventing operation of the dispenser and the refill container. In the past, the problem was solved by a user recognizing a stall condition and then the user correctly manually resetting the refill container within the dispenser housing. As such, the method of solving prior pump stalling events was unreliable and, unfortunately, the implemented fix may further damage the system. Therefore a need is present in the art for improved methods of resetting stalled pumps in electronically controlled dispensing systems.